


Limitless

by shenko464



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: All characters from ME2 and ME3, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-23
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-03 08:16:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/696185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shenko464/pseuds/shenko464
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Earthborn, Hero of Elysium, and Sole Survivor, John Shepard thought he experienced everything the Universe had to offer him. Falling in love with a man was not on the list and what's more surprising is his enthusiasm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rain of Tears

**Author's Note:**

> I've taken liberty with the timeline and, for this story's sake, Shepard goes through both the Akuze incident and the Elysium event. Also, the story will be AU in some parts. Enjoy!

The world was strangely quiet for a foreign world. No signs of life could be heard or seen from a distance. Only the redness of the sand gave evidence that something happened.

Thunder rolled high in the sky and it darkened quickly, covering the eyes of any observers from the horrifying view.

A bloodied hand thrust upwards, the sand drizzling down the multiple scratches and gashes down the forearm. It slapped hard against the sandy ground and what followed the arm was a gasping face, bruised and swollen, making it unrecognizable to all who knew him.

Blue light flickered briefly around his upper frame as the man reared upwards. Short, pained gasps escaped chapped lips and the man grimaced as he managed to drag someone else up with him. A shorter man, no, a young boy, was brought up along with the soldier. The blond hair was matted with sweat and blood. As the boy was pulled out of their sandy graveyard, more blood pooled out of him.

Once he managed to bring the both of them out of the sand, he fell back on his side with a deep groan.

“Shep...” the blonde gasped and the man clapped his hand over the boy's mouth. The cry echoed in the now empty valley they were in, empty except for the numerous body parts that laid strewn across the bloodied ground.

Another rumble could be heard, but this time it originated ahead of them and the man's eyes widened at the way the sand shifted downwards.

It appeared that the creature wasn't done with them yet, despite having torn through forty-nine Alliance marines. As quickly as he could, the man named Shep attempted to pull the boy with him, his weight slowing their ascent up the side of the mountain. Jagged rocks cut deeply into his hands and back but the man persevered. They were almost there, almost to the top when the nightmarish creature thrust itself forward, its mouth already opened and the soldier stared down into the maw of death.

He tripped suddenly and the boy slipped downwards, held only by his blood-slickened hand.

“...Shep...leave...go...”

“Shut...up...”

“Not...your...fault...” the boy whispered to him, “Shepard!”

A tentacle had wrapped itself around the boy's neck and yanked back, pulling its victim out of Shepard's grip. There was a hoarse scream, not from the boy, but from the man who sat helplessly, watching as the mouth enclosed itself around that youthful face, splitting it open like a melon. Only a lone eye could be seen, staring almost accusingly at the lone survivor and it would forever haunt this man's dream. That and those three last words.

“Lt Shepard!” A familiar voice cracked through the red haze that covered his senses. His hand was already pushed out in front of him, the biotic power thrumming through him. It sizzled around him, in him, through him but the power came at a cost. His mind was on fire and he couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything. He only followed his instincts, which was to fight anything that threatened him, threatened the lives he was protecting.

Instead of the Alliance Marines that jumped down, he only saw blurred armored figures with something pointed at him. They could be those vicious batarians or even human slavers coming to finish him off.

“Lt John Shepard!” That voice sounded awfully closer and he blinked his eyes. A stern looking Captain was gazing steadily back at him, unflinching and unarmed. His body blocked the Vanguard's view of the numerous soldiers piling behind him. “Look at me, son! Look at me!”

Shepard did look at him, really looked at him and the red haze of battle waned, only to give way to the Captain's figure and the alllies standing warily behind him. The colours were red and black, Alliance colours, and what breath Shepard had been holding now expelled out of him in a huge gust of air.

The realization that he had won somehow poured throughout his entire body and so did the agony of pushing his biotic powers too far. White hot pain streaked through his head and neck and traveled down his spine. Every thump, every hoarse shout of an order made the pain even worse and he felt like he was falling.

The Lt pitched forward into the Captain's waiting arms and as the dark-skinned officer barked orders to the rest of the men, he looked fondly down at the unconscious hero, the one who survived Akuze and somehow fought off the ever persistent slavers and raiders for nine straight hours.

“I guess I wouldn't have to tell Admiral Hackett the bad news,” he murmured tenderly to John, not really expecting an answer in return. “He already lost so much.”


	2. Trouble on Paradise, Part I

When Kaidan finally saw the Commander for the first time, he was stumped by how remarkably ordinary looking he was. The man, topped only at five-foot ten, was shorter than him. Despite his height, his reputation gave him a ‘larger than life’ perspective. Like the Joker, he was expecting a man of monstrous proportions. Maybe not ten feet tall, but at least six feet and with bulging muscles.

Now, the Commander’s lean frame greatly contrasted with the image of a bodybuilder in Kaidan’s mind. His closely-cropped hair reminded Kaidan of the ‘jarhead’ poster he saw a while back when he was being recruited into the Alliance. Hell, even he had a haircut of that style and he hated it. Thankfully, officers were allowed to grow their hair out, so long as it stayed short and out of the face.

The way the man’s face was made, however, made the military-style hair look sexy on him. His cheekbones sat rather high, giving the Commander a noble appearance, despite the five –‘clock shadow. Even his stubble seemed to accentuate his regal features. What caught the biotic’s attention the most was the eyes-sharp, cerulean orbs that seemed to pierce right through you.

“Something amiss, Lt?” 

Kaidan almost jumped and he had the decency to not blush at the question. God, he was caught oogling at his superior officer like a high schooler.  
“No, sir,” he managed to say quickly, hoping to recover his composure. “Here for the assignment.”

The Commander nodded but with the way those eyes stared at him a little bit longer than necessary told Kaidan that he didn’t entirely believe in him.  
In fact, it looked like he was going to prod him with more questions when there was a soft sound, of a door opening, and the superior officer of the both of them strode into the room quickly.

“Captain Anderson, sir,” they greeted the newcomer at the same time and saluted him. The perfect unison prompted a raised eyebrow from the tall, dark-skinned Captain. Thankfully, he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he went straight into business, the usual for an Alliance CO. The Captain was dressed impeccably in his Alliance uniform. The main dark blue theme nicely contrasted with the gold accents and it suited his dark skin well.  
Kaidan would have said the same for the Commander if the latter was dressed similarly. He wasn’t though and the biotic soldier couldn’t help but appreciate the way the armor ‘clung’ to the man’s frame. Black was definitely a good colour on him and again, Kaidan found himself staring at the Commander for far longer than what was proper.

“Nihlus will be right back. He had to answer a call from the Council.” Anderson’s deep voice interrupted his musings and Kaidan attempted to not jerk out of his thoughts, at least not enough to cause the Captain to ask a question in which he couldn’t truthfully answer.

“We’ll get the mission done,” the Commander stated confidently. He stood with his hands behind his back, in typical Alliance Marine fashion: back straight, head held high, and with eyes forward. There was one thing Kaidan had noticed and it was the N7 emblem located on the upper left shoulder.  
So, the Commander wasn’t just an Alliance Marine. He was also a member of the N7 squad, a group of elite operatives of the Alliance. The best of the best.

“You all know the objectives,” Anderson told them in a perfunctory manner. “Top priority is securing the beacon; survivors are secondary.”

Kaidan disliked how human lives were always secondary objectives to their missions. It was as if they weren’t important. Sometimes he wondered how he would feel if he was a civilian and some spectre walked up to them, saying this mission wasn’t a rescue mission at all. Just a ‘get-it done’ kind.  
“We’ll achieve both objectives, sir!” The enthusiasm behind that proclamation made Kaidan smile on the inside. Of course, he shouldn’t have been surprised by it. The Commander did everything he could to ensure the survival of his squad mates and find survivors as well. 

As they are all walked off the descending platform of the cargo bay, Kaidan knew with certainty that whatever this, he would make it out alive.


	3. Trouble on Paradise, Part II

John Shepard thought there was something different with the Staff Lt he was patrolling with. His biotics reacted rather strangely whenever in close proximity to the other soldier. It was a tingling sensation, not unpleasant either. Usually, he hated being near people just due to his biotics flaring wildly around them, making them both uncomfortable. Even the other soldier, on his left, was walking at a respectable distance. What was his name? Jenkins?

He couldn’t muse on his thoughts for long as he thought he heard something. The path ahead of them was empty but something could be hiding behind the rocks and bushes that lined along the way. The corporal seemed ready for action, given his enthusiastic responses to his questions on the ship. That would make his judgement and reflexes too quick or too slow for an appropriate action. Thus, he ordered the pair to stop behind the two boulders that guarded the upward path. They crouched behind them, guns cocked and ready. 

With a nod to the Lt, he slowly walked forward, his pistol out in front of him. A soft humming sound could be heard and it was the only warning he had before two drones came into his line of vision. He charged right at them, knowing that staying in one place was dangerous. The barrier around sizzled for a bit as his biotic field burned around him and the drones.

His action prompted the two soldiers to fire at them while he held the drones’ attention for a while. The tactic worked and right when his shields went down, the drones exploded. Thankfully, they were a few feet away from him and the blasts only did minor damage to his body, mitigated by the armor he was wearing.

“Commander!” Someone shouted after him and he turned to find the Lt. running up to him, his face flushed slightly from the combat. Jenkins, on the other hand, was quite pale and his hands trembled, causing the gun he held to shake dangerously.

“I’m ok,” John said, brushing off the concern of Kaidan. “Corporal, stay focused. I can’t have a traumatized squad member on my team.”   
The statement was told in a harsher tone than he intended but it got the same result. Jenkins numbly nodded and his hands stopped shaking. His face was still pale but his eyes became more focused and John gave him a nod, showing his approval of Jenkins’ return to the situation.

“Those were drones, sir! What are they doing on Eden Prime?” Jenkins exclaimed loudly and John groaned in exasperation. If there were any other enemies patrolling the area, they would know just where to find the intruders. Perhaps he should have left the corporal on the ship. At least the Lt. kept quiet in enemy territory. As if reading his mind, Kaidan elbowed the Irish soldier in the ribs. “Ow! Oh, sorry.”  
His face reddened in embarrassment and he managed to appear contrite at his unobtrusive loudness.

“Never mind that Corporal, Just stay quiet and stay focused,” was all John had to say before moving out. If the enemy didn’t know of their patrol, they do now.

The trio managed to move out further along their path, frequently bumping into geth patrols but luck was on their side still. They hadn’t lost anyone yet and Shepard intended to keep it that way.

Along the way, they encountered a variety of survivors, from criminals to marines who protected the doctor and her insane assistant. However, they couldn’t find Nihlus and it greatly concerned the leading Commander. Something tickled at the back of his mind, egging him to go west instead of east of the last campsite they discovered. He had never went against his instincts, which saved his ass lots of times, the predominant event being that of Akuze. He still experienced horrific images of that terrible incident, of men being swallowed whole or in pieces.

Seeing at how well the survivors responded to Jenkins, one of them being a former neighbor to his parents, Shepard opted to leave Jenkins behind, for added protection. This time, Jenkins didn’t object. Instead, he merely saluted and said ‘Yes, sir!” in a very enthusiastic tone. The exuberance of the Corporal made Shepard smile on the inside, although his face stayed stoic as ever. He didn’t want to get too emotional with his squad members, too afraid of losing them to circumstances beyond his control.

He took Kaidan with him and several minutes later, he was very glad to have left Jenkins behind in safety. A few feet ahead of him was a large group of the geth. Damn, how were they going to taken them down without getting injuries? He did have his biotic charge which could briefly protect him but it wouldn’t hold out against a vicious and continuous barrage of plasma bullets. He was about to signal Kaidan to slowly move out when something caught his eye at his perphiery. A dark shadow and then Shepard knew exactly why Spectres were so feared.

The shadow flitted across his field of vision, leaving several exploding mechs behind. It was a domino effect and what few survived the initial blast were shot down immediately.

“Shepard,” Nihlus acknowledged him in a typical Turian fashion, by politely nodding his head. He turned to briefly regard the older man standing beside Commander Shepard before raising his gun and shooting at the mech struggling to rise at his feet. Its head flew away, leaving behind a ruined metallic stump.

“I find an unusually large swarm of geth around here to be quite disturbing,” the Turian continued. He holstered the weapon behind him and walked towards the pair. “Come on, we’ve-!”

Nihlus never finished his sentence as a loud bang! Echoed in the area. Blood splattered all over the Commander’s armor and the Turian Spectre fell against him, gasping and wheezing as he did so.

“Nihlus!” Shepard cried out and he slowly lowered himself to the ground, taking the badly injured Nihlus with him. Kaidan had already drawn up his barrier, as protection against any future attacks. It was unnecessary, however, for the attacker had seemingly withdrawn himself or herself from the scene. Perhaps the assassin was satisfied with the strong possibility that its target would die soon. Or maybe it wasn’t ready to face two prominent Alliance soldiers.

“Kaidan, do you have any medi-gel on you?” Shepard asked. He had turned the spectre over onto his back and gently pressed his hands against Nihlus’ side, prompting a strangled moan from the Spectre. Blue blood welled at an alarming fast rate and it covered his gloves. “Nihlus, don’t fucking give up on me. I’ve never had anyone die on me as of yet and you will not be the first!”

While Shepard spoke to Nihlus, the biotic soldier was already applying the medi-gel and Nihlus exhaled a relieved sigh. The Spectre became limp in Shepard’s lap but Kaidan reassured the Commander of the Spectre’s status. 

“He’s alive, Commander. We should get him to a hospital but-“

“But nothing, Lt. I’ll drag his ass if I have to,” Shepard rebutted and Kaidan watched as his Commander almost effortlessly lifted the Turian Specture and draped him over his left shoulder. The N7 operative grunted underneath the added weight but he managed to gain his balance.

“We’ll take him to the doctor and have her watch him while we scout on ahead,” was all Shepard said before moving out in the direction of where they originally came from. The two men truly hoped that the assailant wouldn’t attack them now when they were burdened with an almost dead Turian.


	4. Trouble on Paradise, Part III

“Nihlus! What happened to him?” Jenkins shouted out, but this time in a hoarse whisper instead of the usual obnoxious shout like before. The Corporal helped lay the unconscious Turian on the ground and one of the doctors was already at his side, examining him with her omni-tool. 

“Commander, we’ve no experience working with Turian physiology,” she finally said after her examination. “However, Turians are known for their resilience. He’ll live, just be in great pain.”

“Thanks,” Shepard said and Kaidan noticed that the Commander appeared a lot less stressful now. His eyes still showed hints of concern but his body relaxed and the lines on his forehead disappeared. As if noticing him, his eyes glanced at him quickly, as if assessing the Staff Lt for any injuries as well.  
Kaidan had heard remarkable tales of this man. John Shepard lost his entire squad on Akuze early in his military career and then turned out to be a huge war hero at the Skyllian Blitz. Being a vanguard had to involve up close and personal combat. Thus, John must have been a sight to see in intense combat and Kaidan was just now seeing him in action. However, unlike those who witnessed the Commander’s fighting prowess, the biotic soldier felt as if he saw seeing something else besides the reputation. He was seeing the man, the one who was human and cared for his teammates. He saw all that in just a few seconds of making eye contact.

Those brilliant eyes sharpened their focus then before turning away to regard the doctor. “Keep him safe, doctor.” The vanguard said before standing up from his kneeling position. He made a motion with his head to Kaidan to fall in behind him and Kaidan found himself naturally following his Commander’s lead.

A large amount of time was spent in finding and retrieving the injured spectre. So, the two Alliance Marines had to pick up the pace quite a bit, hoping to get to the beacon before anyone else does.

The pair managed to stumble into another geth patrol and they picked up yet another person, this time a total stranger.

The stranger turned out to be the one in the vid. Also, it was hard to miss the white and pink armor the soldier was wearing. She was on the run from two Geth soldiers and had tripped on a random piece of debris when they found her. The Geth on the left had just barely aimed at the fallen soldier when its head exploded, violently, and another was thrown off its feet only to collide with the boulder to the left of it.

The soldier scrambled to her feet hastily, her gun ready to point and shoot at them. Of course, the two men couldn’t blame her for that. Being surrounded by enemies tends to bring out the survivalist instincts out.

Once she realized who they were, she lowered her weapon and sighed in relief. “Thank God, you’re here!”

“What’s happened?” John was straight to business first and then ask personal questions later. That was another thing Kaidan noticed. Unless he knew the person personally, the vanguard was very professional. Perhaps too professional.

Once they were informed of the increased Geth patrols, the trio then hastened to the beacon, meeting some very interesting people along the way. A bunch of mercs were hiding out, probably looting the dead, and the biotic soldier knew that John really wanted to kill them. He himself found this to be offensive but they could only do so much to stop these types of criminals.

They finally found the structure up on a metallic platform and Kaidan couldn’t believe his eyes.

“An actual Prothean device!” Ashely exclaimed. “But it wasn’t acting like this before!”

The strange structure was emanating a green light and Kaidan, curious as to why that was, stepped closer. He heard the Commander talking to the Normandy over the comm line and then to Ashley afterwards. Whatever they were saying, however, was almost defeaned, as if the beacon was putting out a signal blocker to his auditory senses. He ignored the warning signs in his head, that this apparatus could be dangerous. As he got closer to it, the green light suddenly brightened and it started to pull him forward, towards it.

He tried to pull back but the gravitational force was just too strong. Great. He should have listened to his instincts and not even have glanced at the thing. Suddenly, something heavy crashed into him. His vision blurred and the world shifted, causing nausea to well in his system. The force of being thrown made him land hard on the metallic plates and someone called out his name.

“Kaidan!!”

Another body knelt right next to him, but this time, the presence was quiet and feminine. His head hurt badly, almost as bad as his implant-induced migraines, and the voice sounded muffled, despite the person’s juxtaposition. There was a roaring sound and it prompted him to look up.

His Commander was trying to resist but failed and it was quite eerie to see his leader being lifted up in the air. It was as if he was bound by a force field. His arms and legs were unnaturally rigid and while Kaidan couldn’t see the contorted features, he felt Shepard scream loudly before the structure exploded violently, throwing him back.

A moment of silence and then he ran to the supine figure. Shaky hands rolled the squad leader gently on his back.

“Shepard? Shepard?!” He shouted, but his voice was hoarse.

The Commander’s face lolled to the side, his eyes closed and mouth parted. The only sound he made was a soft moan and Kaidan knew he was alive. Hurt but alive at least. For some odd reason, his heart twisted painfully at the thought of this man dying on him. He wanted to see those blue eyes again.

“Gunnery Sergeant to Normandy. Shepard’s down and we need extraction now!” Ashely’s voice rang loudly in his ears and Kaidan really hoped that there were no enemies in their vicinity. If so and with Shepard down for the count, the two of them would be hard-pressed for survival.

“Damn, the Commander’s down already?” Kaidan, despite the situation, couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Of course, Joker would think that. He didn’t have to be down here, fighting those atrocious machines. “Probably that bad huh?” That was the pilot’s only saving grace.

“The Geth putting people on spikes…yeah, it was that fucking bad,” Ashely spat back angrily and Kaidan couldn’t really blame her for her attitude. The female Gunnery Sergeant just watched her whole squad die, something Shepard could probably relate to. “Just get us out of here!” 

“ETA five minutes. Joker out.”

She sighed heavily and turned her gaze towards the kneeling biotic soldier. “So, what’s your story?”

“Alliance soldier for a few years. Nothing special.” Kaidan replied rather quickly, his eyes still locked unto Shepard’s still form.

“Huh. Your biotic skills say otherwise,” Ashley pointed out. An awkward silence rose between them and Kaidan was very thankful at the sight of an approaching ship. Since it wasn’t shooting at them, it could only be the Normandy. Thank God.

The Normandy drifted in slowly and the panel opened, revealing the cargo bay and someone waiting at the top of it. It was Dr. Chakwas herself and the willowy doctor literally ran to them, a very concerned look distorting her motherly features.

“John!” She cried out and then, realizing that there was a stranger with them, put on her best professional look. The doctor knelt at John’s side and immediately brought out her omni-tool. The orange tech software displayed John’s vitals and she frowned, obviously not liking what she was seeing.  
“Doctor? Is he ok?” Kaidan asked her. His hands were still on the Commander’s chest though he didn’t know why and a strange thing occurred. A blue flicker and a slight hum of power as the biotics flared around both Kaidan and the Commander, causing John to softly moan in unconsciousness.

“He’s hurt. Can you two carry him to the Medbay? I will keep an eye on his vitals.” Her sharp tone brooked no argument from them, making the request more like a demand. The pair did what she was asked. They carried John between them and it was a miracle they even managed to lift him up let alone carry him into the ship. With the added armor, their Commander was a heavyweight and sometimes Ashley stumbled, almost dropping the man. 

Eventually, they managed to stumble into Medbay and Doctor Chakwas practically kicked Ashley out, but leaving Kaidan behind. If the female soldier had any qualms about it, she kept them to herself, possibly not wanting to push her luck with a superior officer.

“Place your hands on him again, Kaidan,” the doctor ordered him and the biotic soldier did so. Again, the biotics flared into being and it covered the both of them. She analyzed the Commander’s vitals again and took notes on it. 

“What happened down there?” She asked, her attention still glued to the vitals display. Kaidan took his hands off. “No, keep them on him. I want to know why his biotic field is suddenly so stable.”

“Is something wrong with his biotics, Dr?” Kaidan had to ask. His curiosity earned him a strange glare from her. Those gray eyes, experienced and wise, made him feel sheepish at his question.

“No. I’ve known Shepard since he first enlisted. His biotics are usually unstable when he’s around people, but now…” Her sentence trailed off and the doctor seemed lost in her thoughts. She murmured to herself on occasions, completely ignoring Kaidan. Finally, after twenty minutes of analysis or whatever she was doing, she put aside her omni-tool and asked the same question again.

It wasn’t until several moments later that Kaidan found himself sitting at the Commander’s side, his face leaning on his hands as he stared at the figure lying on a table. Gentle beepings echoed in the Medbay and it gave both Kaidan and the doctor some relief that the Commander was still alive. Another monitor was set up next to him and it displayed several brainwaves. The biotic soldier stood sentinel over the sleeping man and soft mumbling could be heard. Seeing as how the doctor was on break and left Kaidan in charge, the mutterings could only be from Shepard himself.

He could discern some words, names of someone or a group of people. Ryan, James and Paul. Could they be his deceased squad members on Akuze? Then, his own name came up and Shepard rolled over, his brows furrowing as if the man was in pain. Kaidan placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, trying to comfort him the best he could without being too intrusive. At his touch, Shepard calmed down and the quickening heart beeps slowed down. Perhaps, the Commander found his presence calming and Kaidan stayed at his side for the rest of the night.


End file.
